• An executive order signed by Governor Kay Ivey will create the Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy which will analyze data to help address the serious issues with Alabama’s prison system.
• Ivey said this study group will lead to more reforms in the system, adding that “we are well on our way to making meaningful progress.”

5. Al Green thinks this impeachment vote was successful

• After U.S. Representative Al Green’s (D-TX) latest attempt to impeach President Trump, he stated that this attempt wasn’t a complete failure since this time they got almost 100 votes in favor of impeachment, whereas before they had only gotten 58 the first time and 66 the second.
• Green went on to claim that Trump is causing harm to society, and if he continues to do so “with his inciteful and hateful rhetoric then he will be impeached.”

4. House votes to increase the minimum wage to $15

• In a brilliant piece of political theater, the House passed a bill that would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, setting up a nice battle over the measure in the media, even though it has no chance of passing the GOP-controlled Senate.
• The bill would increase wages for some but the bill as passed in the House would kill close to 4 million jobs for the lowest earners, speed automation, drive up prices, hurt the economy, shrink family incomes and increase the deficit, inflation and interest rate, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

3. Trump and “The Squad” keep at it

• According to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), President Donald Trump has moved away from politics, and now “we are in racism…we are in a fascistic government.” They believe criticism against them is violence.
• Trump is backing away from the “Send her back!” chants at his rally, but continues to point out that he views this as a battle over ideology and love of America. He even tweeted a video that included a Lee Greenwood song and declared America was “ONE ‘SQUAD’ UNDER GOD!”

2. Doug Jones is a one-term Senator

• Morning Consult released a poll that shows U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) is losing support in the state, with his 2019 first-quarter approval rating 20% lower than the first quarter of 2018.
• The poll showed that 39% of registered voters approve of Jones, 37% disapprove and 24% are undecided. His overall his approval rating has gone down 3% since the beginning of 2019.

1. Kay Ivey loses far more ground than other governors that signed abortion bans

• A flurry of one-sided national and local media attention after signing a bill ban most abortions in the state of Alabama, which her constituents supported, Governor Kay Ivey’s approval rating plummeted 17 points, according to a Morning Consult poll of Governor Approval Rankings
• While Governor Ivey still sits with a +28 point approval rating, her fall was not mirrored by governors in Missouri, Georgia and Louisiana.

• Former Auburn football coach and 2020 U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville has started questioning why Democrats seem to be pushing so much for socialism to be the new normal.
• Tuberville believes Democrats are pushing for socialism for “money and power” and they don’t actually care about people. He also mentioned how when he was growing up, socialism and communism were cuss words and “a total scam.”

5. Congressmen brag on Alabama’s contribution to the Apollo 11 program

•  Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) spoke on the House floor to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Apollo 11 in favor of Alabama’s future involvement with the Space Launch System (SLS). Aderholt mentioned how proud he is of Alabama’s involvement in developing “our most powerful rockets.”
• Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) also took to the House floor to praise the Marshall Space Flight Center for its role in past space exploration and its part in propelling the program forward, stating, “As we reach for the stars, I have confidence that the Tennessee Valley, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Huntsville, where we say The Sky is NOT the Limit.”

4. El Chapo gets sentenced — Ted Cruz and Mo Brooks still want his money for the wall

• Notorious drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as “El Chapo,” was sentenced to a life sentence plus 30 years and the restitution of $12.6 billion dollars for crimes that the judge said were “overwhelming evil,” including drugs, murder and money laundering.
• Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), and House sponsor Mo Brooks have renewed calls for the federal government to use El Chapo’s money to build the wall, but the U.S. government doesn’t know where that money is.

3. Alabama Republicans don’t think Trump is being racist

• All of the Republican Alabama members of the U.S. House voted against the resolution to deem President Donald Trump racist for his tweets against “The Squad,” but Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) explained his position on the whole situation.
• Palmer didn’t agree with Trump, but he said that the tweets were “ill-timed and insensitive.” He does not think the tweets were racist. Palmer has even called attention to the hypocrisy of the Democrats with the examples of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) tweeting that supporting Israel is only “about the Benjamins” and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s claims that there are concentration camps at the southern border.

2. There will be no impeachment 

• The House of Representatives has voted to kill the resolution from Rep. Al Green (D-TX) that would bring articles of impeachment against President Trump.
• The vote on Green’s third attempt to impeach Trump was 332-95, but when speaking in favor of the resolution, Green referenced the decision to condemn Trump’s actions on Twitter as racist, saying that this resolution was the opportunity to “punish him.”

1. Latest media tizzy is over a crowd chanting “Send her back!”

• The battle between “The Squad” and President Donald Trump took another turn on Wednesday night when the president was criticizing  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and the crowd began chanting “send her back” in reference to her nation of birth, Somalia.
• This obviously sent the media and their Democrats into an apocalyptic reaction about the appropriateness of the chant and how it is all Trump’s fault that we are here in our current political environment, which ignores years of claims that everyone who disagrees with Democrats is racist and the current president is a traitor to the nation.

• In 2014, Eric Garner passed away after an altercation with police in New York where a chokehold was used, and now the Justice Department has declined to federally charge any of the police officers involved.
• During the altercation with police, Garner famously said, “I can’t breathe” multiple times, which became a rallying cry for those advocating for officers to be charged. But a Staten Island grand jury declined to press charges.

5. More jobs for Alabama

• Motus Integrated Technologies will be building a new $15 million manufacturing plant in Gadsden that will provide 90 new jobs.
• It’s planned that the plant will be opened in mid-2020, and automotive interior parts and headliners will be produced at the plant. This further destroys the idea that there is a boycott on Alabama over an abortion ban.

4. Everyone “The Squad” disagrees with is racist

• U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is “complicit in advancing racism” in the United States because he didn’t speak out against President Donald Trump’s comments.
• This isn’t the first leader they have described as racist. The Squad called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for singling out women of color, which Trump rejected out of hand.

3. Both sides want Alabama’s abortion bill put on hold

• Both the attorney general’s office and those suing the state of Alabama want Alabama’s abortion bill put on hold until May of 2020. The issue is one of discovery and legalese, but it will delay the implementation of the law if a judge grants the request.
• Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood’s CEO had to step down because she was more interested in women’s healthcare than all-out political advocacy and abortion activism, further disproving a popular media narrative about this organization.

2. Doug Jones doesn’t actually have that much support in Alabama

• Sure, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) reported that he raised $2 million in the second quarter, but 87.78% of those donations came from out-of-state. Almost half, 45.35%, of his donations came from California, New York, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
• Jones has to convince Alabamians that he represents their values. His votes and his party’s most outspoken members are going to make that a pretty hard sell.

1. I guess it is official, Trump is a racist … or something

• On Tuesday, the House passed a resolution that condemns President Donald Trump’s remarks on Twitter about four progressive House Democrats, which has been deemed racist.
• The resolution passed in a 240-187 vote. It claimed that “Trump’s racist comments have legitimized fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color,” but in reality, it means nothing just like the claim Speaker Pelosi broke House rules by calling the president “racist.”

• Due to most Democratic 2020 presidential candidates wanting to replace Obamacare with Medicare-for-all, former Vice President Joe Biden has come out with a plan that he hopes will save Obamacare.
• According to Biden, his plan would include “a public option to Obamacare as the best way to lower costs and cover everyone.” New taxes on the wealthy would pay for the plan.

5. The Alabama Democratic Party website was as dead as the party for a while

• When people visited the website they fittingly found links to “types of abortion” and “cheap abortion services” because the party failed to pay their web hosting bill because Chairwoman Nancy Worley said she paid with a credit card that canceled after they found fraudulent out of state purchases.
• The website hasn’t been used for much over the last few years and still has a top post congratulating U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) for his 2017 victory. They don’t use their social media much either with al.com reporting their “last post on Twitter was May 16, and the last post on Facebook was June 5”

4. More restrictions on asylum seekers

• President Trump has announced a new policy that would require most asylum seekers to first seek asylum from the country they traversed, and only when their denied asylum there would they be eligible in the United States, but the ACLU is prepared to sue over this. Democratic presidential candidates are unhappy as well.
• Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said that this policy “will reduce the overwhelming burdens on our domestic system caused by asylum-seekers failing to seek urgent protection in the first available country,” as well as keeping out those who want to take advantage of our system. 

3. Moore has less 

• Former Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore is falling far behind the other candidates with only $16,964 in donations. Since he announced his candidacy on June 20, everyone else is killing him. U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) raised $750,000 in the last quarter, former football coach Tommy Tuberville raised $420,000  and State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) raised $300,000.
• However, Secretary of State John Merrill didn’t declare his candidacy for the 2020 U.S. Senate race until June 25, and according to Merrill’s social media pages, he raised $217,000 in only 12 days, which makes him a prolific fundraiser.

2. Byrne offers to buy a ticket for Omar

• Byrne told Yellowhammer News that he would pay the airfare for U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to live in Venezuela, and he said that way “they can enjoy their failed Socialist Paradise.”
• Byrne is siding with the president that “America is an exceptional country, and I’m proud to live here.” Trump has doubled down on his earlier tweets, saying, “IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE!” He also stated that America will never be socialist or Communist.

1. “The Squad” reacts

• During a news conference on Capitol Hill, Omar said that President Trump has been violating his constitutional oath. She added that “it is time for us to impeach this president” for a number of things including false claims of collusion and “committing human rights abuses at the border.”
• For his part in all this, President Donald Trump seems to be happy the media and their Democrats are defending the four congresswomen, saying, “The Dems were trying to distance themselves from the four “progressives,” but now they are forced to embrace them. That means they are endorsing Socialism, hate of Israel and the USA! Not good for the Democrats!”

• Facebook is getting fined $5 billion for privacy violations. The fine was approved by a 3-2 vote from the FTC.
• This was the settlement to the long debate over the Cambridge Analytica debacle that started over a year ago. Facebook later admitted to giving Amazon and Yahoo access to users’ personal data, as well as collecting call and text data from phones on Google’s Android system in 2015.

5. More tolls for Alabama

• State Senator Chris Elliot (R-Daphne) has said that tolls coming to help build the $2.1 billion Mobile Bay Bridge could open the opportunity for more tolls coming to additional roads in Alabama.
• Elliot warned that this could be the first case it will be used, but it will not be the last, stating, “And that toll authority legislation, while it is probably going to be rolled out for the first time in coastal Alabama, could be used in other parts of the state as well, which is why I think it ultimately passed both houses and had the governor’s signature on it because the next time it gets used is going to be in Birmingham, or it’s going to be in Huntsville between Huntsville and Decatur, or some other area like that.”

4. Chaos and terrorism at detention centers across the country

• Talk of mistreatment, child separation, “concentration camps” on the southern border and new immigration raids have led to an escalation in rhetoric, calls for immediate action and protests to end the practice of detaining people who enter the country illegally.
• This weekend, the American flag was ripped down in Colorado so the protestors could fly a Mexican flag, and more seriously, a domestic terrorist attack a Tacoma, Washington detention facility with “incendiary devices” and firearms by Willem Van Spronsen who sent a manifesto laying out his reasoning for his attack.

3. Doug Jones wants to keep Obamacare

• In New Orleans, the federal appeals court heard arguments over a lawsuit that says the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Alabama is included in the lawsuit, but U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) wants you to know that the Affordable Care Act is essential to Alabama.
• Jones said that for people with pre-existing conditions or those who rely on their health care coverage for mediations and treatment, getting rid of the Affordable Care Act “could literally be a life or death matter” and Alabama apparently “has the most to lose.” Jones also claimed that the lawsuit is just another “attempt to take healthcare away from folks.”

2. Trump tweets give the media and their Democrats a common enemy

• As the Democrat civil war escalated, President Donald Trump decided to unify them by tweeting that U.S. Representatives Ayanna Presley (D-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) should “go back to and help the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” amid the four congresswomen being critical of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
• The tweet was roundly criticized with some calling it racist. Others pointed out that it was a foolish thing for the president to do while the Democratic Party was engaging in open infighting and their more vocal members were becoming wildly unpopular.

1. The raids have started

• As promised, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun immigration raids across the country. Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli has kept most of the details quiet, including not saying whether families will be separated in the raids, which happens every-single-day in America.
• What Cuccinelli did say is that 1 million people have removal orders. He didn’t confirm that raids have started, but according to Fox News, a senior administration official said that they began on Saturday evening.

Jackson and Burke are joined by criminal defense attorney Jake Watson to discuss the Jeffrey Epstein case and its fallout.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at the national media’s desire to have extremely flawed candidates on the ballot in Republican states solely so Democrats will have a chance at winning.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

The process includes:

• Excavating and moving material farther from rivers and waterways and reducing the size of the closed pond sites by as much as half.
• Using advanced engineering to construct additional protections, such as redundant dike systems and other structures, for increased, robust flood protection.

At all of Alabama Power’s ash ponds, the closure process includes treating and removing all water and installing a specially engineered barrier to keep the dewatered material safely in place. Groundwater monitoring will continue at the closed ash pond sites for at least 30 years to ensure protection of water quality.

And there is far more taking place. The closure plan for each ash pond is site-specific, and includes additional, advanced technologies and safeguards that go above and beyond closing in place.

For example, at Plant Barry in Mobile County, the process includes:

• Excavating and moving material farther away from waterways, creating a buffer up to 750 yards from the Mobile River – a distance in some places longer than seven football fields. In all, over 7 million cubic yards of material, approximately 30% of the total, will be moved farther from the river.
• Reducing the size of the closed pond site by 267 acres, or approximately 45%.
• Constructing a redundant dike system and a subsurface retaining wall around the entire consolidated footprint to provide further groundwater protection. The retaining wall will tie into a natural, solid clay layer that extends up to 28 feet below the site, effectively sealing the material in place.
• Constructing an internal drainage system around the perimeter of the consolidated footprint to accelerate the removal of water.

At Plant Greene County, the company is:

• Excavating and moving material farther away from waterways, creating a buffer up to 400 yards from the river. The facility’s size will be reduced by approximately 268 acres, or more than half its original footprint.
• Applying advanced engineering technologies to construct a5-mile subsurface wall around the closed pond to provide additional structural integrity and water quality protection. The wall will extend 30 feet below ground around the entire closed facility and tie into a natural chalk layer, effectively sealing the material in place.

At Plant Gaston, in Shelby County:

• Material will be excavated and moved farther away from waterways, creating a buffer up to 330 yards from the river – a distance longer than three football fields.
• The facility’s size will be reduced by approximately 75 acres, or by more than a fourth.
• The company will apply advanced engineering technologies to construct a redundant dike system between the closed site and the river as part of the plant’s increased, robust-flood-protection system.
• The company will also install a specially engineered drainage and collection system for additional long-term protection.

At Plant Gorgas, in Walker County:

• Material will be excavated and moved farther away from waterways, creating a buffer in some areas nearly a half-mile wide.
• The consolidated, dewatered footprint will be reduced by approximately 130 acres or by nearly a third.
• Advanced engineering technologies will be used to construct a reinforced dike system between the closed site and the river as part of the plant’s increased, robust flood-protection measures.
• The company will install a specially engineered drainage and collection system for additional long-term protection.

And at Plant Miller, in Jefferson County:

• Material will be excavated and moved farther away from waterways, creating a buffer up to 450 yards from the river – a distance longer than four football fields.
• The facility’s size will be reduced by approximately 125 acresor by more than a third.
• Advanced engineering technologies will be used to construct a reinforced dike systemto provide additional structural integrity.
• The company will install a specially engineered drainage and collection system for additional long-term protection.

The advanced and enhanced closure process plus other measures are designed to correct, over time, any issues related to groundwater around the pond sites. If additional measures prove necessary, the company will take action to protect the community and the environment, in coordination with state regulators.

Alabama Power has already made significant strides toward safe and permanent closure of its ash ponds. Over the past three years, the company installed new water treatment systems and dry ash-handling systems at its fossil plants – a prerequisite for ending use of the ponds.

Last year, Alabama Power completed the permanent closure of the ash pond at Plant Gadsden.

This past April, the company stopped using ash ponds completely as part of its environmental controls.

The company is now moving ahead with dewatering the Greene County ash pond. Dewatering is expected to begin at the remaining ponds at plants Barry, Gorgas, Gaston and Miller later this year.

Also later this year, the company will hold public meetings in communities near the pond sites to share information about the specific closure plans. Dates for the public meetings have not been set.

To learn more about the company’s closure plans, visit www.alabamapower.com and search for “CCR compliance.”

(Courtesy Alabama NewsCenter)

• Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill that makes it a felony to possess a stolen gun, whereas before it was a misdemeanor unless the gun was worth more than $500.
• This bill was first introduced after Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder and Birmingham Police Sgt. Wytasha Carter were killed with stolen guns earlier this year. State Representative Matt Simpson (R-Daphne) and State Senator David Sessions (R-Mobile) sponsored the bill, and Simpson has said that there were more than 1,200 guns stolen in 2018 from vehicles.

5. Biden still leading, Harris slipping

• The 2020 Democratic presidential field is still being led by the former vice president, who is leading with 26% but the real surprise in the latest poll is that Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is second with 19% while Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are tied at 13%.
• Interestingly, this same NBC/WSJ poll shows how far-left the Democratic primary voters are. Seven in 10 Democratic voters support government funded single-payer health care system, while only 14% of Republicans and 36% of independent voters want government-run health care.
  

4. The difference on immigration is clear

• Both leading Democratic candidates for Congress made statements that indicate that they are going to allow more refugees to enter the United States, with Elizabeth Warren saying she wants to increase the limit 800% to 175,000. Frontrunner Joe Biden says he will “raise our target for refugees to a level commensurate with our responsibility.”
• President Donald Trump has other plans. This weekend, the long-awaited immigration raids are coming as the media squeals about families being separated and due process when the reality is that those being targeted have already had their due process and have been ordered to be deported.

3. Trump doesn’t want someone who isn’t running for Senate to run for Senate

• U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has said that President Trump doesn’t want former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to join the 2020 U.S. Senate race. It seems unlikely that Sessions would enter the fray without the president’s blessing.
• When talking to The Hill, Shelby said that Trump “was not on board” with a Sessions candidacy, but he wouldn’t provide specific details on what Trump said, other than that they “talked about the seat” and “how to win the seat.”

2. More numbers roll in for the United State senate race and Jones is trouncing

• Incumbency has its advantages and Doug Jones is cashing in with $2 million raised during the second quarter as he claims $4.2 million in the bank. He raised $22 million in his 2017 special election win. 
• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has raised $750,000 in the second quarter of his U.S. Senate campaign and $2.5 million overall. All other GOP candidates have raised less than Byrne, with Tommy Tuberville at $420,000 for last quarter and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) at $300,000.

1. Trump caves on census question, will seek alternate sources for data

• In a Rose Garden ceremony, President Trump announced he will not be pursuing a citizenship question on the 2020 cCnsus but instead will use current federal resources to gather accurate information. Attorney General Bill Barr said the information will be useful in determining “congressional reapportionment.”
• During his announcement, Trump declared that this was not him backing down, saying, “Today I’m here to say we are not backing down in our effort to determine the citizenship status of the United States population.”

• State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) isn’t always the first name that comes to mind when you think about the 2020 U.S. Senate election, but despite his lack of name ID, his Senate campaign announced that within the last 30 days the campaign has raised over $300,000.
• Mooney has been endorsed by some pretty big names, such as talk show host Mark Levin, U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson.

5. Fire Acosta

• Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has defended himself pretty well on how he handled the plea deal for Jeffery Epstein in 2008 by saying that his office wanted a harsher punishment, but state prosecutors wanted Epstein to walk.
• This is all probably for naught because the media and their Democrats have continued to call for Acosta’s resignation and Republicans don’t want to die on this battlefield. Even failed lawyer Michael Avenatti took to Twitter to say that the Democrats “have no guts” and they’ll just tweet and send letters if Acosta doesn’t resign.

4. SPLC prepared to fight Montgomery over aggressive panhandlers

• Montgomery has recently passed a city ordinance that allows panhandlers to be fined and jailed, and now the Southern Poverty Law Center is asking Mayor Todd Strange to veto the ordinance, claiming that it is punishing people living in poverty as well as violating the First Amendment.
• SPLC has indicated that if the ordinance, which passed 9-0, isn’t vetoed, they’re going to file a lawsuit against the city “for violating the constitutional rights of its most vulnerable and needy citizens.”

3. Pelosi wants her fellow Democrats to grow up

• On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had a stern talking to with the Democratic caucus because people have been taking their complaints to Twitter instead of trying to solve issues face-to-face, and according to Fox News, Pelosi said, “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just ok.”
• It’s assumed that Pelosi was mainly targeting U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) who recently tweeted and referred to the Problem Solvers Caucus as the “Child Abuse Caucus.” Her comments come only days after her public disagreement with U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) where AOC also vented her frustrations on Twitter.

2. There is no boycott on Alabama

• German automotive supplier Gerhardi, Inc. has opened the new $41.6 million German automotive facilities in Montgomery, Alabama. It will employ 235 people and, according to Managing Director Reinhard Hoffman, the facility will be a “state-of-the-art injection molding, electroplating, and assembly plant.”
• Every other week, some group claims they are going to stop businesses from coming to Alabama and the frauds in the media and their Democrats fret about it, but it never happens (see: immigration, abortion, and bathroom laws) and Alabama’s abortion ban outrage will be no different.

1. If you ask Mitch McConnell Alabama is done with Moore

• U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has dismissed the possibility that people are seriously considering former Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore for the Senate even though it appears there is no real momentum for Moore.
• While the national media frets and pretends Moore is a thing, McConnell said, “I think the people of Alabama have figured this guy out. I think they’ve seen quite enough of Roy Moore.”

• House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) announced on Tuesday that the committee will be authorizing subpoenas this week for at least 12 individuals linked to President Donald Trump to further their obstruction of justice investigation.
• Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein all made the list of those to be subpoenaed. The committee’s top Republican, U.S. Representative Doug Collins (R-GA), said that the efforts to continue the investigation remain “unimpressive and unproductive.”

5. Amtrak thirst continues in Mobile

• On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council approved a “positive” resolution addressing Amtrak coming back to Mobile in a 6-0 vote. It is a different revised resolution than the one introduced on June 25 that requested Governor Kay Ivey promise funding to Amtrak, which would be absurd.
• The resolution that was approved instead asks that “responsible state, county, and city officials examine the feasibility of a return of passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast.” Mobile City Councilman Joel Davis has said that more information is needed before city officials can decide whether or not it’s worth investing in Amtrak.

4. Cocaine Mitch smacks down a media campaign to boost his 2020 opponent

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) responded to a report from NBC News that tied him to his former slave-owning ancestors by highlighting how absurd that notion is, saying, “I find myself once again in the same position as President Obama. We both opposed reparations and we both are the descendants of slave-owners.”
• This report was all about laying the groundwork for an announcement by failed U.S. House candidate Amy McGrath to announce her run against McConnell that included glowing national press, softball interviews and proclamations that this no-shot candidate is in a “blockbuster race.”

3. HudsonAlpha means big money for Alabama

• Since the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology opened in Alabama in 2006, they have had a $2.45 billion impact on the state’s economy through employment, revenue and capital expenditures like equipment purchases and construction.
• According to the study that was conducted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), 71% of the impact was from the research, testing and medical laboratories.

2. New salary packages coming for correctional officers

• The Alabama Department of Corrections announced on Tuesday that after increased funding from the state’s general fund budget, new salary packages will be made available for correctional officers that have incentives for job seniority and training.
• Getting correctional officers has been one of the major issues that contribute to the overall conditions in Alabama’s prisons, and according to the Alabama Department of Corrections staffing analysis, state prisons only have one-third of the number of correctional officers they actually need.

1. Brooks highlights poll showing Americans want citizenship question on census

• On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) appeared on “America’s Newsroom” where he discussed the 2020 census and said that a citizenship question is “basic common sense.” Attorney General William Barr has said that he knows of a way to include the question on the 2020 census that President Donald Trump supports.
• Americans largely agree with Cruz and Barr. Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) tweeted out as much, stating, “A Harvard/Harris poll found that 67% of U.S. voters say the 2020 census should ask the citizenship question. Open-borders Socialist Democrats who oppose the citizenship question are in direct conflict with the American people’s views once again.”

• A bill that would allow Congress to access President Donald Trump’s state tax returns has been signed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Previously, state tax returns were supposed to stay private with few exceptions, and Trump’s legal team has already called this bill “Presidential harassment.”
• The bill would mandate that the state’s commissioner of the Department of Taxation and Finance would be required to turn over tax returns when requested by the House of Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee or Joint Committee on Taxation.

5. The Russians are coming to help Planned Parenthood in Alabama

• A Russian band called “Pussy Riot,” which is known for its social activism, is coming to Birmingham for a concert that will benefit Planned Parenthood. While the concert was being discussed before the abortion ban was passed, it wasn’t until the Alabama Human Life Protection Act was signed into law that the plans were more official.
• The band’s co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova has said that the band wants to come to Alabama because to her it is “ridiculous” that the right to an abortion is still a question, as well as noting that her home country, Russia, is patriarchal in many ways, but at least they have access to abortion.

4. McConnell attacked over his great-great grandparents from Alabama

• In an odd attempt to make the wildly unpopular Democrat debate over reparations seem like a legitimate issue, NBC News published an “exclusive” story about two of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) great-great-grandparents, who owned slaves in Alabama over 150 years ago.
• The hook here is that McConnell’s opposition to reparations is unseemly given his familial connections and the fact that his former Alabama relatives “James McConnell and Richard Daley, owned a total of at least 14 slaves in Limestone County, Alabama.”

3. A lawsuit is the only thing keeping Roy Moore’s name in the news

• As Moore’s candidacy seems to be fading, there is a reason why Roy Moore keeps appearing in headlines: the lawsuit Leigh Corfman filed against Moore, From last week’s court filings, Moore’s legal team is calling the lawsuit “the theatre of the absurd,” which was in response to Corfman’s team asking to expand the boundaries of Moore’s deposition.
• Despite these legal proceedings dragging on and not really presenting new information, we will continue to keep hearing about the lawsuit, his fledgling candidacy and low poll numbers because they have to pretend Moore is viable and scary.

2. Shooter in Marshae Jones case says she won’t get over the shooting

• AL.com spoke to 23-year-old Ebony Jemison who said, “I will never get over the baby but I will get over doing what I had to do to protect myself,” as she recounted the events of the day where she fired the shot that may have ricocheted and hit Jones in the stomach killing her unborn baby as Jones was menacing her.
• Embarrassingly, the prosecutor caved to media pressure and dropped the charges against Jones. Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice O. Washington cited the fact that people were mean to her online when she was on vacation for dropping the case, stating, “All the while my name was being desecrated across this…this nation.”

1. Doug Jones will oppose Trump nominees, even if he doesn’t have all the details

• There’s a new video of Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) promising to stop a future Supreme Court pick from President Trump, even though it’s completely hypothetical, further making it clear that Jones knows his Senate career is going to be a short one.
• The video was taken at the University of North Alabama town hall held by Jones. It also showed Jones saying that he can “raise hell” about the hypothetical nomination and acknowledging that there’s nothing he can realistically do other than “shame him” for the nomination.

• Republicans believe this will be the moment former President Bill Clinton and others connected to him will finally face the reckoning for decades of suspected misbehavior and criminal activities. Flight logs show Clinton traveled with Epstein dozens of times to a private island.
• The media and their Democrats believe there are ties to President Trump in this situation, and it could cause him great embarrassment. Epstein was a member at Mar-a-Lago and the president referred to him as a “great guy” in the past, as well as saying there were problems with his island.

5. Kamala Harris wants to close the racial wealth gap

• If elected, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) wants to use $100 billion federal tax dollars to invest in housing for black families in an effort to close the racial wealth gap. Her plan would include granting up to $25,000 to individuals to help with a down payment and closing costs.
• According to Harris’ campaign, if the racial wealth gap in homeownership was eliminated, “median black wealth would grow $32,113 per household, and the wealth gap between Black and white households would shrink 31 percent,” but the plan is blatantly unconstitutional.

4. Iran abandoning nuclear deals

• Despite the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran made with other countries, on Sunday they surpassed the limit allowed for uranium enrichment stated in the deal. Europe has had trouble responding to Iran’s increase uranium enrichment, despite the 60-day warning they received.
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has responded to Iran by tweeting, “Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions. Nations should restore the longstanding standard of no enrichment for Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s regime, armed with nuclear weapons, would pose an even greater danger to the world.”

3. Trump approval rating continues to climb

• Good news this weekend for President Trump as he got his enemies to attack his 4th of July event which was a success. The latest jobs reports show a strong June, and his approval rating is the highest it’s been throughout his entire presidency at 47%, which is five points higher than April.
• Despite Trump reaching such a high approval rating, he’s still struggling in polls against 2020 Democratic candidates, which still shows former Vice President Joe Biden beating Trump 55-41%, as well as Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) beating Trump by at least 6%.

2. Charges dropped against Marshae Jones

• Prosecutors in Alabama have dropped the manslaughter charges against Marshae Jones, who was shot in the stomach while five months pregnant after initiating the altercation. The charges being dropped allows the rest of the country to paint Jones as an innocent victim.
• The decision to drops charges only came after District Attorney Lynneice Washington’s office was bombarded with angry calls and messages expressing displeasure with her arrest and indictment; activists even attacked the case arguing that Alabama values the life of unborn babies over the life of a woman.

1. Alabama backs Trump on his census fight

• At least three Alabama politicians want Trump to keep fighting to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill sent a letter to the Trump administration to show his support of including the citizenship question on the 2020 Census, Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) spoke of his disappointment in Justice John Roberts and Attorney General Steve Marshall reiterated the fear of Alabama losing a House seat.
• All three Alabama leaders want the Trump administration to keep fighting to add the question back to the 2020 Census. The president has made it clear he isn’t done yet and Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services office, said, “I think the president has expressed determination. He’s noted that the Supreme Court didn’t say this can’t be asked. They said they didn’t appreciate the process by which it came forward the first time.”

Jackson and Strong are joined by Madison County School Superintendent Matt Massey to discuss the new Alabama School of Cyber & Engineering.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team in which he says he hopes they lose their finals matchup.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Protesters in Birmingham gathered outside of the federal courthouse downtown to speak out against the conditions at border facilities. 
• Multiple activists spoke, lamenting how immoral the facilities are. A child welfare worker, Genie Taylor channeled U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), saying, “It’s hard to look at this and not think about the concentration camps. I think most people are appalled.”

5. AOC is lying… again

•  Ocasio-Cortez recently made some brutal claims about the conditions of the border facilities, including that women were being forced to drink out of toilets and being subjected to psychological warfare.
• However, former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan is speaking out against her claims, saying that her claims are false. He added that AOC was “clearly, intentionally misinforming the American public,” as well as explaining that her toilet claim is false because while the sinks and toilets are attached, they have separate water lines.

4. Hugh Culverhouse, Jr. is lying … again

• After Hugh F. Culverhouse, Jr. lied constantly about what transpired between him and the University of Alabama, he now, about three weeks later, has released an ad in the Wall Street Journal titled, “When We sing ‘God Bless America’ on the fourth, in Alabama some will sing ‘Dixie.’”
• In the ad, Culverhouse ignores the truth and carries on with his own narrative, such as when he stated the falsehood that a state law allows “a father who has sex with his daughter to obtain custody rights,” as well as stating that the abortion ban won’t pass judicial review and then goes on to state that the ban “will lead to cruel unthinkable results”, which is a massive contradiction. Culverhouse’s ad ignores logic and attempts to reinforce a false narrative.

3. Boycotting Alabama isn’t working

• Despite efforts to “boycott” Alabama after the state passed an almost complete abortion ban against the wishes of Hollywood, the media and their Democrats and the state of California, it’s now been announced that a California tech company will be relocating to Alabama.
• The Alabama Futures Fund recently invested in the tech company Prepaid2Cash Holdings, Inc. (P2C), which is a company that allows customers to turn gift cards into cash with their smartphones, and they’re moving their international headquarters to Birmingham with their co-founder saying, “We were blown away by the ample resources and support available to a growing business like ours. This gives us confidence in our ability to scale our company and access new customers and tap regional connections.”

2. McConnell talks Senate election in Alabama

• According to Perry Hooper, Jr., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) discussed some of the candidates in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama. Those who came up were U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), former Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.
• Hooper said that McConnell was happy to hear that Moore is only polling at 13%, and that he doesn’t dislike Moore, but he wants a candidate that can defeat Senator Doug Jones (D-AL). Hooper also said that if Moore starts polling around 20-30%Vthat Republicans in Washington are “definitely” going to get involved in the election again.

1. Trump wants an American holiday while Democrats find Betsy Ross and her flag offensive

• If you believe there isn’t a difference between the two major American parties at this point, it appears you haven’t been paying attention to modern American politics where one side wants tanks and planes to celebrate America’s July 4th holiday, while the other party finds the American flag offensive.
• Trump’s “Salute to America” celebration is under attack from the media and Democrats who think his celebration is unacceptable. District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton stated, “This president is trying to do is to make it into Bastille Day.” She added, “That’s not an American way to approach our Fourth of July.”

In 2017, the P2C team identified an opportunity to offer a fast, secure and affordable way to allow users to convert gift and prepaid cards into cash. Where competitors in the space have developed marketplaces that allow users to exchange cards or sell them to other users for cash at a discount, P2C’s technology and partnerships allow users to exchange their cards and receive payment directly to their bank account within 24 hours or via check in a few business days.

Since its inception, P2C has processed millions of dollars in transactions, has thousands of users and is growing quickly, with the company’s relocation set to add to an already thriving Birmingham tech community.

Matt Hottle, partner at Redhawk Advisory, serves as the Investment Manager for the Alabama Futures Fund.

“We loved this business model immediately,” Hottle said in a statement. “P2C brings a simple and valuable customer proposition with an advanced technology platform to a huge market opportunity. What the P2C team has done already is remarkable and we are excited to bring another great team and company to Alabama.”

The company is also ecstatic about moving to Alabama, citing the tremendous business climate.

“We are excited to join the burgeoning tech community in Birmingham,” Peter Vogt, co-founder and CEO of P2C, emphasized. “We were blown away by the ample resources and support available to a growing business like ours. This gives us confidence in our ability to scale our company and access new customers and tap regional connections.”

This comes immediately on the heels of Yellowhammer News publishing articles on Alabama’s soaring aerospace industry and the state’s top-notch workforce development efforts, showcasing that the Yellowhammer State is focused on being the most business-friendly place in the world. And, despite the dubious cries of Culverhouse, a Floridian, Alabama is currently on the way to doing just that by focusing on the priorities of industry: infrastructure, workforce, supply chains, regulatory environment and taxes.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

Oh — and of course, Culverhouse tried to “cover up” what was really going on by saying the riff was about his opposition to a new state abortion ban law, one that is not in and almost certainly will never go into effect, and one that the university had nothing to do with.

That huge Culverhouse falsehood — let’s call it what it was, a lie — was propped up by certain outlets in-state initially, which allowed national outlets like The Washington Post to run with the abortion-narrative fact-free.

The university then produced records definitely proving Culverhouse was lying, but most national outlets could not be bothered with correcting the record, and he even doubled down afterward, proving that truth does not matter to him in this vendetta.

This was over three weeks ago now. Time has passed. But, as his actions Tuesday proved, the tantrum is not over.

Culverhouse bought a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on July 2 entitled, “When we sing ‘God Bless America’ on the fourth, in Alabama some will whistle Dixie.”

The premise is obvious: Alabama is a backward place and Culverhouse is superior to it. Media outlets in the state like Alabama Media Group and across the country will run with it because they agree with the premise, never mind it being based on more lies.

The most glaring falsehood in the WSJ ad is Culverhouse’s claim that Alabama state law would allow “a father who has sex with his daughter to obtain custody rights.”

Yellowhammer News has recently debunked this claim, similarly made by The Washington Post and Alabama Media Group alike.

For an attorney, Culverhouse also displayed dubious knowledge of the law in his ad, reminding people that he did not graduate from the prestigious University of Alabama School of Law.

In one part, he brags that the abortion ban “will not pass judicial review.” Of course, this is the point — Alabama’s lawmakers openly and consistently have said they do not want the law to go into effect, rather, they want the law to go through the judicial review process and reach the Supreme Court for consideration.

Additionally, just sentences after crowing about that, Culverhouse asserted the abortion ban “will lead to cruel, unthinkable results.”

Simply put, he cannot logically have it both ways and say that the law 1) will never be in effect, but at the same time claim 2) the law’s effects will be devastating. This is a fear tactic — a bad one — that is working, in part, because of outlets who continue to publish what Culverhouse says despite the facts.

At some point, the guy who goes from saying, “Maybe his God and my God are schizo-fu**ing-phrenic,” to singing “God Bless America” needs to go into the good Sarasota night. If his lies stop getting published, this can finally happen — whether he goes quietly or just with no-one around to hear his fit.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

• U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) visited a detention facility and made numerous claims about the conditions, including that women were being forced out to drink water out of toilets, a claim that has been disputed and mocked.
• It is alleged that AOC entered a cage as part of a performative protest, refused to tour the facility and yelled at border patrol agents before adding on Twitter later, “After I forced myself into a cell w/ women&began speaking to them, one of them described their treatment at the hands of officers as ‘psychological warfare.'”

5. Alabama could help end DACA program

• Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments and rule on the constitutionality of former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) during their next term. Its ruling could have a major impact on the presidential election because the next term of the Supreme Court runs from October 2019 to June 2020.
• Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall laid out the case that Alabama and other states will be making, explaining, “The U.S. Constitution makes clear that Congress alone has the legal authority to write U.S. immigration law, not the president through an executive branch memo. I am hopeful that the Court will rule in support of the Constitution and allow the president to finally terminate DACA.”

4. Teen charged as an adult in Bramblett case

• The 16-year-old, Johnston Edward Taylor, that caused the wreck that killed Rod and Paula Bramblett in May has been arrested and charged as an adult with two counts of manslaughter. He is currently being held on a $50,000 bond.
• While Taylor previously said that he fell asleep and didn’t remember the accident, a toxicology report showed that Taylor was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the wreck. Police have said that he was traveling well over the speed limit.

3. Biden is bleeding support

• CNN has posted a new poll that shows the field is narrowing and former Vice President Joe Biden could be at risk of losing the lead, since now his lead is down to 5 points above his opponents.
• The poll was conducted after the Democratic debates and shows that 22% of Democrats would vote for Biden, 17% for Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), 15% for Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 14% for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), while none of the other Democrat presidential candidates made it to 5%.

2. Roy Moore accuser claims he failed a polygraph

• In December 2017, Roy Moore took a polygraph to prove that he wasn’t guilty of the allegations made during his campaign that he was involved with minors previous to his marriage, and now the attorneys of one of the accusers, Leigh Corfman, are saying that the polygraph test didn’t clear Moore’s name.
• Now, Corfman’s attorneys have filed a motion to reopen Moore’s deposition in a previous lawsuit filed by Corfman; in the motion, it states that Moore “likely failed” the polygraph which Moore has maintained that he is innocent. There is only one way he can prove he passed his polygraph and that is by releasing it.

1. Governor Ivey says “Alabama is an easy sell” to the aerospace industry

• Governor Kay Ivey spoke to Yellowhammer News about her trip to the Paris Air show and called the trip “very valuable” during a conversation about the state’s soaring aerospace industry where the value of the industry is $2.4 billion and growing.
• During the discussion about site selection, workforce development, supply chains and more, Ivey touted Alabama as a “business-friendly state” with “an unparalleled workforce.” Alabama looks to continue growing while America is experiencing a record period of economic expansion.

• During a campaign fundraiser hosted in Seattle, Washington, former Vice President Joe Biden stated that five years ago it was acceptable to make “fun of a gay waiter.” His comment immediately struck a chord with his audience and people shouted, “Not in Seattle!”
• Oddly, Biden is the person responsible for pushing Obama to recognize gay marriage, but these repeated gaffes and controversies could be starting to pull his campaign back to earth as he lost 10 points after the first two debates.

5. Media continue its advocacy for irresponsible expectant mothers, Jeff Co. DA about to toss case

• AL.com has long advocated for mothers who harm their children with drug use during pregnancy, and now they are publishing pieces pushing for Marshae Jones to not be charged after putting her child at risk by starting a fight that ended in a shooting that killed the unborn child. Their advocacy is working. 
• Jones’ attorney, Mark White, plans to file a motion to dismiss charges against her. He says that the indictment has many errors and he believes it was politically motivated to begin with. He went on to say that the indictment is an “unprecedented, inappropriate charge that is not permitted under the law in Alabama.”

4. Gary Palmer wants you to know how many abortions are happening

• U.S. Representative Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) is working to make sure that accurate counts of abortions are reported to the Center of Disease Control & Prevention. Palmer has said it is necessary to know how many abortions or attempted abortions occur for public health research and when determining policy.
• Currently, states can withhold data on abortions, and Palmer wants to standardize the reporting process. If passed, the bill would require states to report the number of abortions performed and the number of failed abortion attempts where the child lived. Penalties for withholding or falsifying data would result in lost eligibility for funding from Medicaid for family planning services temporarily.

3. John Merrill dismisses conflict of interest claims once again

• With Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill running for U.S. Senate, journalists and social media are abuzz with claims that he has the same issues they errantly claimed Georgia’s secretary of state had when he was running for governor in 2018.
• The ploy here is as transparent as it sounds. The idea is cast doubt upon Merrill’s integrity without making any actual claims, but it won’t work here. Merrill has been knocking down dubious and politically motivated allegations for months.

2. Doug Jones thinks insulting his constituents will get him reelected

• U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) continues to prove he has no interest in winning his reelection campaign in 2020 with his latest comments about how he understood the issues surrounding his vote against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
• Jones says his vote was based on how angry Kavanaugh was about being accused of multiple sex crimes. He explained, “If somebody had acted that way with you and you saw that kind of demeanor, I don’t think you would have hired that person,” and he condescendingly stated, “The people in Alabama, voters, didn’t do the due diligence I did.”

1. Trump crosses the line

• On Sunday, President Donald Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Tucker Carlson of Fox News attended the meeting and shared that Kim sounded like an emphysema patient from all of his wheezing, adding that Trump “dominated” Kim and “towered over” him.
• Carlson was very insistent that he believes Kim is in poor health, but also that Trump truly admires Kim for his toughness. But, despite Trump being the first sitting president to visit North Korea, many people are taking issue with his relationship with Kim.

Jackson and Burke are joined by former Auburn football coach and candidate for U.S. Senate Tommy Tuberville who talks about his campaign.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” directed at Roy Moore, who is currently pretending his entry into the race for U.S. Senate is not against President Donald Trump’s desires.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Issues of gerrymandering are used by both parties to maintain power in state legislatures and in Congress. Courts have been increasingly stepping in to redraw the lines and the Supreme Court has said that is not the job of the courts.
• The Supreme Court blocked the citizenship question on the 2020 census, for now, handing high-immigrant states like California a victory and leading President Trump to ask lawyers to delay the census “no matter how long” in hopes of eventually getting the citizenship question on the census.

5. Shelby is on a winning streak

• The U.S. Senate has passed the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will provide $750 billion for national defense, as well as a 3.1% raise for troops. U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) has praised the passing of the NDAA, saying that it “is an essential step in providing our military with the means and resources to protect our nation efficiently and effectively.”
• There are several provisions within the NDAA that benefit Alabama, such as new opportunities for shipbuilding along the Gulf Coast, the authorization of three new military construction projects in the state and support for missile defense efforts in Huntsville and Troy.

4. Some say she is a victim, some say she is a criminal

• In the case of Marshae Jones, a new petition has gained 1,466 signatures asking for the charges of manslaughter against Jones be dropped after gaining a lot of attention over the last 24 hours. The case is even being used to reinforce the narrative that Alabama cares more about the life of a fetus than the life of a woman.
• In December 2018, Jones was five months pregnant and started a fight with Ebony Jemison, and after Jones initiated the fight, Jemison shot Jones and Jones’ baby died; charges of manslaughter against Jemison were dismissed, and Jones was arrested and charged for child endangerment. Bessemer District Attorney Lynneice O. Washington’s office said in a statement they are still deciding whether to prosecute Jones on manslaughter charges or a lesser charge “or not to prosecute it.”

3. Another Dem Debate

• The winners of last night’s debate were Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), who dominated the stage and took on former Vice President Joe Biden’s past on bussing and segregation, and illegal immigrants, who learned that not only will they be welcomed at the border, but that they will also receive free healthcare when they get here. President Donald Trump also gets a win here as his potential opponents run further and further to the left with the help of MSNBC.
• The big loser in this debate was Biden, who took a pounding from Harris in the most viral moment of the night. He raised his hand when asked about free healthcare for illegal immigrants, and generally seemed confused at multiple times, including yielding his own time while defending his record on race and saying he would defeat Donald Trump on his first day in the Oval Office.

2. You paid a lot for the “Love Gov”

• In total, the cost of settling the lawsuit involving former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency leader Spencer Collier case was $1.02 million, with $525,000 being the cost of the settlement and the $498,456 the state paid in legal costs.
• Governor Kay Ivey commented on the issue, saying that the funds came from the General Liability Trust Fund, which is meant to cover the “damages arising out of the negligent or wrongful acts or omissions committed by the state employees or agents of the state.” In this instance, that means former Governor Robert Bentley.

1. McConnell crushes Pelosi as Democrats fold on border crisis

• After spending months pretending there was no crisis at the border and ignoring 17 requests for additional funding, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) collapsed, bucked the more progressive members of her caucus and passed a $4.59 billion humanitarian aid bill.
• As the Democrats on the debate stage and in the media continue to drag the Democrat Party to the left, Pelosi was under pressure to pass the bill by more moderate members of her caucus who weren’t willing to kill the Senate bill that passed 84-8 in the Senate to please Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY).

• Soccer star Megan Rapinoe told a website, “I’m not going to the f*****g White House” and the president suggested she focus on her sport’s biggest moment, saying,  she “should WIN first before she talks!” adding, “We haven’t yet invited Megan or the team, but I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose. Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team. Be proud of the Flag that you wear!”
• Rapinoe, who is relevant for about three weeks every four years, is the same person who took a knee during the National Anthem (she is standing now) and considers herself a “walking protest” of a president who, until today, probably didn’t know she existed.

5. Chuck Schumer attempting to mislead the public

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stood on the floor of the United States Senate and slandered Americans who believe in strong immigration policy, saying, “President Trump, I want you to look at this photo. These are not drug dealers, or vagrants, or criminals. They are people simply fleeing a horrible situation in their home country for a better life.”
• But the reality of this photo is very different and pretty obvious. The dead parent and child never once interacted with our legal system or touched our border. The only part of America that is to blame for these deaths is the part that calls for open borders and tells people that if they sneak in that they can stay.‬

4. Terri Sewell accuses Trump of lying

• U.S. Representative Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) released a statement claiming that the Trump administration is lying about the importing of automobiles and parts as a national security threat, and is now calling on the Trump administration to publicly release the Auto 232 report from the Department of Commerce. She went on to say that she believes the reason why the report hasn’t been released is that the products aren’t an actual national security threat.
• Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield is also raising the alarm on tariffs, advising, “The administration’s efforts to pursue fair trade are timely but we are concerned about an extended tariff war because trade negotiations through tariffs is not in the long term in anybody’s interest, particularly if it produces no results.”

3. Democratic debate winners and losers on night one

• The two big winners of last night’s debate were Joe Biden, who didn’t come up even with a double-digit lead, and President Donald Trump. Democrats took turns coming out in favor of all sorts of extreme policies, including higher tax rates, destroying private health insurance, abortion on demand, gun-grabbing, open borders and leaving the Taliban alone.
• There were many losers in this disaster, including Americans who are clearly not a concern for these candidates, MSNBC for hosting a debate that didn’t give us one moment that we can all point at to say was the best moment, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for being the biggest dog on the stage and fading into the blob of blandness. Wait, was she on stage?

2. Roy Moore may not actually be a threat

• A new poll, which was taken from 612 likely 2020 GOP primary voters, shows that Roy Moore is trailing at third place in the 2020 Republican U.S. Senate race with only 13%, leading to speculation that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions may not enter the race.
• The poll also showed that Secretary of State John Merrill was close behind Moore with 11.8%, former football coach Tommy Tuberville in first with 29.3%, U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) with 21.4% and State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indiana Springs) with 2.2%. Also, 22.3% of participants responded as undecided.

1. Senate passes funding for crisis at the border; conflict is coming

• A bill that U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) negotiated that would provide $4.59 billion to address the border crisis was passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday with an overwhelming majority of 84-8 but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wants to discuss the matter further and its passage in the House seems uncertain.
• Before the bill passed, Shelby spoke in favor of the bill, saying that it has “no poison pills” and has bipartisan support. He turned his address to focus on those in the House, asking that they “not derail the one bipartisan vehicle with a real chance of becoming law.”

• Presidential hopefuls, including people with no shot, will gather over the next two days in Miami, Florida, to slug it out and argue over who the most progressive candidate is to play to the far-left base while trying to avoid turning off swing and moderate voters that they will need to win in November 2020.
• Obviously, the guy leading the 25 candidate field by double digits, former Vice President Joe Biden, will be a major target for everyone involved, but he has shown he might be invincible with recent polling showing that praising segregationists, refusing to apologize for it and switching positions he held for 40 years has not really hurt him.

5. The Alabama AG is trying to stop robocalls

• Every single day Alabamians receive robocalls from scam artists and phone number spoofers attempting to swindle people, but Attorney General Steve Marshall recently forced an actual in-state violator of the Alabama Telemarketing Act to discontinue the robocalls and reform their business practices.
• In a press release, Marshall advised Alabamians to report the robocalls they receive, saying, “You receive a robocall, do not speak or push any buttons that may let the caller know they have reached a live person and received a response. Instead, hang up and report the call”.
  

4. Iran is done

• President Donald Trump said while he hopes Iran got the warning message he sent by placing sanctions, we aren’t going to allow them to have a path to develop nuclear weapons. He also threatened the nation with “obliteration,” and when asked about if he had an exit strategy, he said, “You’re not going to need an exit strategy.”
• Trump went on to say that if Iran decided to attack the United States, they would be met with “overwhelming force.” A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Abbas Mousavi, has already said that the sanctions have permanently closed the “channel of diplomacy” between U.S. and Iran.

3. John Merrill punches up

• Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill announced his official candidacy for the 2020 U.S. Senate race on the south steps of the Alabama State Capitol in front of 150 people.
• Merrill released a campaign announcement video that took pointed jabs at some of his Republican competition and linked U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

2. Mueller will testify after all 

• Former FBI special counsel Robert Mueller has accepted an “unfriendly subpoena” and will testify before Congress on July 17, which could set up a ton of fireworks on Capitol Hill as Democrats continue to try to relitigate Mueller’s investigation and Republicans want to highlight alleged impropriety in the investigation and during the leadup.
• The idea that this hearing is going to change any minds is unlikely. Mueller seems like he is not interested in participating in this, the media and their Democrats will continue to say there is collusion and obstruction and Republicans will continue to point to the ongoing investigation into the origin of the investigation. 

1. The House passed a bill to spend more money on migrant children

• The bill that would provide $4.5 billion in funding to aid the crisis at the border was debated between House lawmakers on Tuesday, and Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY) said at a press conference, “We are urging our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to show some decency.”
• The Senate has a competing bill that has border security as well. The House is apparently having none of that as Democrats make it clear that their purpose and goal on illegal immigration is open borders that allow illegal immigrants in to stay.

• While Alabama got all the national attention, Missouri has been more successful at banning abortion and now only has one abortion clinic still open, however, it is only until Friday due to a judge’s ruling that directed Planned Parenthood to go to the Administrative Hearing Commission to take up the issue.
• Planned Parenthood intends to continue to fight, but Missouri is on track to become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since Roe v. Wade passed in 1974.

5. Bye bye, student debt?

• Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has proposed a plan to eliminate the $1.6 trillion in student debt held by 45 million Americans, which includes the federal government paying the debt and then making trade schools, community colleges and public universities tuition-free.
• The 2020 Democratic hopeful’s campaign claims that the plan would be paid for with $2 trillion over 10 years from a tax placed on Wall Street, but tax experts have claimed it would stunt investment, innovation and economic growth which seems to be a feature and not a bug of the plan.

4. Sanctions on Iran

• On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will place financial sanctions against Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates. Trump said that these sanctions will deny the supreme leader and his office access to “key financial resources and support.”
• The Treasury Department has also issued a news release stating that any foreign financial institution that provides a financial transaction for anyone under the executive order risks being cut off from the U.S. financial system.

3. Polling shows Sessions is a contender

• A new poll of 906 Alabamians finds that former Attorney General and U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) leads the field of the potential 2020 GOP primary candidates with 25% of those polled. Tommy Tuberville and Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) tied for second with 19%, while Roy Moore is fourth with 13%.
• On Tuesday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is expected to announce his 2020 U.S. Senate candidacy. He has already filed candidacy paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.

2. Special session for prisons might be a bit away

• Recently, Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) said that he’s been told it will be at least three months before a special session is called to deal with prison reform since legislators need to get data from the Alabama Sentencing Commission. Ward said, “Without all that data, all you’re doing is legislating from the heard instead of the brain.”
• Ward has previously said that a special session is important to deal with prison issues so that it would be the only item of focus, but as Ward expressed in May, that session may not come until October.

1. Mexico works on the border while Democrats stall in D.C.

• After President Trump pressured Mexico, Secretary of Defense Luis Sandoval announced that Mexico has deployed 15,000 troops to the border, while 2,000 National Guard members have already been deployed to the Mexico border with Guatemala and Belize.
• Late Monday, House Democrats met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi  (D-CA) to discuss allocating more money to deal with the border crisis, but progressives like U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), noted historian and de facto leader of the Democratic Party, appear ready to kill that deal. 

• Former Representative Joe Sestak (D-PA)  has declared on Sunday that he will be entering the presidential race, which makes him the 25^th Democrat to enter the race. He won’t be on the stage for the two Democrat debates scheduled for this week.
• Sestak said during his announcement that the reason for his late entrance into the race is because his daughter, Alex, was diagnosed with brain cancer again and he didn’t announce his candidacy until his daughter beat the cancer.

5. Pete Buttigieg did nothing wrong

• During a town hall, 2020 presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg said that he wants to get the civil rights division of the Justice Department to investigate a shooting that took place in South Bend on June 16 where an officer shot 54-year-old Eric Logan.
• However, the town hall was frequently interrupted by angry citizens and at one point a man shouted, “You gotta get back to South Carolina like you was yesterday? Talk about ‘all lives matter’ in South Carolina?” One man approached the stage to yell at Buttigieg.

4. Democrats are trying to out-crazy each other

• Impeachment and open borders are clearly core planks of the Democratic Party in 2019, but you can now add gay reparations and higher taxes on day one of their administrations to the list of really bad and unpopular ideas they are pushing in their primary.
• Former Vice President Joe Biden took a break from defending segregationists to tell a South Carolina crowd that he would “move to eliminate” the Trump tax cuts on “day one,” while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) followed that up with a tweet declaring gays deserved reparations because they were denied marriage tax incentives until recently.

3. We aren’t done with Iran

• We may not be at war with Iran right now after the president pulled back a potential attack on the Islamic Republic, but that doesn’t mean that Iran will be escaping scot-free after shooting down an American drone.
• Last week, it appears, the United States launched a sophisticated cyberattack. The nation still faces more sanctions; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.is headed to the region to build a coalition against the nation.

2. This is not the 2017 election

• During the special election cycle, Republican politicians stood behind Roy Moore because the unproven allegations against him came out 30+ days before the general election. He ended up losing to now-U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), but this time it appears things will be different.
• Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston), State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) and Secretary of State John Merrill are the latest politicians to join U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) in declaring that they think Roy Moore is a flawed candidate with little to no chance of winning this election or even getting out of the primary.

1. Trump is delaying deportations

• President Trump has announced that deportations he announced last week will be delayed two weeks at the request of Democrats in hopes that Democrats and Republicans can come to an agreement on what to do about the crisis at the border and asylum loopholes.
• The plan was to deport nearly 2,000 families from 10 different cities starting Sunday. It’s clear Trump doesn’t expect a deal. He tweeted, “Probably won’t happen, but worth a try. Two weeks and big Deportation begins!”